- Joined
- Apr 4, 2004
- Messages
- 1,496
Specifically, how many will a gravid female produce from a single mating?
A bit of background. There was a female at a shop that was carrying a crew of scorplings. I was mildly interested in purchasing her, even though I suspected that she might end up killing them due to being initially disturbed by the unsuspecting care-takers who were unaware that she had produced. I checked back later and there were inly two of the babies left, one drowned in the water dish, the other was being eaten by the mother.
It came to my attention that she spawned another group, which is not uncommon, so I decided to go ahead and buy her. One scorpling was deceased, but uneaten. I'm not sure how many she had, but it appears (after a very stealthy examination without disturbance) that there are at least three remaining. I brought her home the day before yesterday, as of this writing.
So, now I am wondering... is two broods the limit, or have they been known to produce more past that point? I think the remaining scorplings may stand a chance since they will not be disturbed by me any more than possible, bit I would not mind a fresh brood having a better shot at things from the start.
I'm not really an AFS newbie. Nor an expert, but I already have three of them, one raised from a baby that was given to me and two others I purchased as adults, so I'd probably end up giving babies away to a responsible person who would be interested in raising them, As I have enough. I just want the pleasure of bringing viable ones to a survivable stage. And who knows, it might lead me to attempt a bit of home-breeding. After that I might even try to breed scorpions!
Oh, and since the mother is hunting for meals for herself plus a few babies, what is the frequency of introducing prey?
Also, anybody have any idea what the evolutionary or biological imperative is that results in cannibalism? It seems counter-productive to me. Being disturbed might be a bad thing, but I'm puzzled as to why it readily goes downhill so fast. In human terms... "Marge, there are invaders in the house! Quick! Kill the kids!"
Is it a case of "Well, my brood is probably doomed anyway, I may as well consume them to nourish the next batch!"?
And one last weird thought I had transporting the scorp home: I thought "If I am in a crash, I should tell the responders "Nevermind me! Get the kids and their mother out of the wreckage!" Confusion would ensue.
A bit of background. There was a female at a shop that was carrying a crew of scorplings. I was mildly interested in purchasing her, even though I suspected that she might end up killing them due to being initially disturbed by the unsuspecting care-takers who were unaware that she had produced. I checked back later and there were inly two of the babies left, one drowned in the water dish, the other was being eaten by the mother.
It came to my attention that she spawned another group, which is not uncommon, so I decided to go ahead and buy her. One scorpling was deceased, but uneaten. I'm not sure how many she had, but it appears (after a very stealthy examination without disturbance) that there are at least three remaining. I brought her home the day before yesterday, as of this writing.
So, now I am wondering... is two broods the limit, or have they been known to produce more past that point? I think the remaining scorplings may stand a chance since they will not be disturbed by me any more than possible, bit I would not mind a fresh brood having a better shot at things from the start.
I'm not really an AFS newbie. Nor an expert, but I already have three of them, one raised from a baby that was given to me and two others I purchased as adults, so I'd probably end up giving babies away to a responsible person who would be interested in raising them, As I have enough. I just want the pleasure of bringing viable ones to a survivable stage. And who knows, it might lead me to attempt a bit of home-breeding. After that I might even try to breed scorpions!
Oh, and since the mother is hunting for meals for herself plus a few babies, what is the frequency of introducing prey?
Also, anybody have any idea what the evolutionary or biological imperative is that results in cannibalism? It seems counter-productive to me. Being disturbed might be a bad thing, but I'm puzzled as to why it readily goes downhill so fast. In human terms... "Marge, there are invaders in the house! Quick! Kill the kids!"
Is it a case of "Well, my brood is probably doomed anyway, I may as well consume them to nourish the next batch!"?
And one last weird thought I had transporting the scorp home: I thought "If I am in a crash, I should tell the responders "Nevermind me! Get the kids and their mother out of the wreckage!" Confusion would ensue.